Editorial | Hoosiers deserve better

Republican lawmakers in Indiana are showing some extreme common sense and remarkable backbone in their budget plan that resists Republican Gov. Mike Pence's irresponsible demand to slash taxes.

Under the GOP House budget plan released last week, lawmakers instead are proposing to restore funds that have been cut in previous budgets from education and bridge and road repair.

The budget plan proposes using Indiana's surplus of $500 million to bulk up some of the state's vital services that have been cut to the bone in recent years. It does not include the 10 percent reduction in income taxes Mr. Pence had wanted.

Mr. Pence, who this year replaced Gov. Mitch Daniels, said he was "very disappointed."

"Hoosiers deserve better," he complained.

But GOP leaders wisely have noted that after several years of very lean budgets, the state needs to spend some money to catch up on key services it is supposed to be providing its citizens, including education, roads and bridges.

While they're at it, legislators need to consider restoring funds to the Department of Child Services, which has been cut by more than $100 million over the past several years amid increasingly horrific reports of child abuse deaths and injuries.

The surplus doesn't need to be returned to Hoosiers through a tax cut in a state that already has a low income tax rate of 3.4 percent.

Indiana taxpayers already got a windfall this year when former Gov. Daniels pushed through legislation that allowed every taxpayer a $111 tax credit for 2012 because of his supposed thriftiness.